Condemning those who are openly endorsing preferred
candidates ahead of the elections this year, chief Macha of Choma district said
some politicians were also to blame because they were the ones who were dragging
chiefs into politics.

He said it was unfortunate that some
politicians even reached an extent of corrupting chiefs in order win their
support.

He said it was unfair for chiefs to accept handouts which did
not help the people they were leading.

“Some chiefs have just been
dragged into politics by some corrupt politicians. They persuade them with
different gifts that do not add any value to their subjects. I think it is very
unfair because if a chief accepts a gift from a politician, it will only be him
that will benefit from it,” he said.

“I would urge the politicians to
leave the chiefs alone and by doing so, they will allow people to make the right
decision through the ballot.”

He said it would be difficult for chiefs to
work with the government if their preferred candidates failed to win the
elections.

“How would you work with a government (whose leaders) you
rejected? We need to be careful with what we say because we don't know who forms
government after the elections. We all have preferred candidates but we should
learn to keep them to ourselves,” he said.

Chief Macha said he felt sorry
for chiefs endorsing candidates because they were misleading their
subjects.

He said it was important for chiefs to remain non-partisan and
allow their subjects to make independent choices during voting.

“I feel
sorry because at the end of the day these chiefs lead a lot of people and
sometimes what they say may mislead the masses. It is always important for
chiefs to remain non-partisan and only work with the government of the day,”
said chief Macha.